Lithuanian and Polish troops helps in ‘search and recovery’ for 4 missing American soldiers

The Polish army has established a group to help the Lithuanian Army and the US Army. In a recovery operation for four American army soldiers who disappeared early Tuesday during a training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania.

The soldiers, based in Fort Stewart in Georgia, were traveling in a M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle in a programmed maintenance mission to recover another vehicle from the US Army. UU. In the training area when they disappeared, the US Army Wiesbaden, Germanyconfirmed.

Hundreds of soldiers and Lithuanian and Lithuanian police, Lithuanian military helicopters and diving equipment helped in the initial search based on earth through the thick forests and the swampy terrain.

However, the soldiers have not yet been located, and the M88 Hercules was found immersed in a body of water within the training area, located on a highly pressurized gas pipeline near Pabradė, a city north of the capital Vilnius.

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In an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday afternoon, the Lithuanian Defense Minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, said from the moment the country learned of the incident, had “given everything” that has, both of its institutions of the Ministry of Armed Forces and internal affairs, to find the soldiers.

“From helicopters with thermal vision to forces on the ground, we continue very intensely,” said Šakalien.

US Army. Uu. Europe and Africa Public affairs observed water, thick mud and soft land around the site “have complicated recovery efforts”, which require specialized equipment to drain the water on the side and stabilize the soil.

Polish officials announced Thursday they would send to a group of troops with engineering equipment to help.

Until Thursday afternoon, the authorities said the land dredging team was on its way, and a dam was being reinforced to isolate the mud pumping area.

The pressurized gas has been eliminated, and now it is safe to work on the site, according to Šakalienė.

The Internal Water Waste Agency will send a master water dredge and more than 900 feet of bulk pipe on Friday morning, and must reach the location for noon.

It will take several hours to install the pipe and the drains. Then, they will begin to make the influx of water with the excavator.

“The dredging pump generally pumps 80% of the water, while working with 20% mud or mud, and the goal is to start working with the pump until the night, so that, finally, on Saturday morning, a diver and the hydrographic equipment can use an echo founder of multiple beam to evaluate the position of the vehicle, because we still do not know if it has overturned or in what position it is inside,” said Šakalien.

A diver will link cables, and workers will wear pulleys to tow the vehicle to the coast.

“Then we can verify if the missing soldiers are inside,” he said.

Šakalienė said it is unknown if the soldiers could have escaped from the vehicle before sinking, but reiterated that “there was no evidence” that confirmed the death of the disappeared soldiers from Thursday afternoon.

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The area surrounding the site is a wooded area with swamps and swamps, similar to an environment that is located in Alaska. Climate conditions are also similar, which makes it a challenging training area for army personnel.

“Maybe they were lost, confused, wounded or in hypothermic conditions, and we haven’t found them yet,” said Šakalien. “But we are not losing hope until the last moment. These are strong soldiers, strong men and adults. All scenarios are possible.”

She added Lithuania, a NATO memberConsider US soldiers their own and will not leave them behind.

“We are working with them. We are their friends, and our whole society is disconsolate observing every moment of this rescue operation,” said Šakalien. “I have a 24 -year -old son. It’s hard for me to even imagine what is happening … let me make sure we will do everything within our reach to find them and find the answers as soon as possible.”

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VicePrimer Minister of Poland Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed in X a work force of several dozen Poles soldiers with heavy equipment and frogs that were headed “urgently” to Lithuania to help.

“We are responding to a request from our #strongtegether allies,” Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote in the publication.

According to reports, the country, also NATO member, feared that conversations between Russia and Ukraine could end in an agreement that would allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to threaten the region.

Lithuanian officials said they are in contact with the American ambassador Kara C. McDonald and the US army staff.

“We are taking advantage of all US and Lithuanian assets available to coordinate and provide the resources required for this effort,” wrote the largest general of the United States Army Curtis Taylor, the general domain of the 1st armored division.

The rescue mission has now become “search and recovery efforts,” according to a statement by the US Army. Uu. Europe and Africa.

“We are incredibly grateful for the dedicated and professional efforts of our Lithuanian allies to guarantee the security of the United States personnel,” Taylor added. “They have worked tirelessly with us in the last 48 hours, and we are still grateful for their support.”

The Third Infantry Division of the US Army.

“This tragic situation weighs a lot in all of us, and we keep the families, friends and teammates of our soldiers and recovery team in our thoughts and prayers,” Taylor wrote. “We want everyone to know that we do not stop until they are at our soldiers.”

President Donald Trump They told the journalists on Wednesday that he had not been informed about the missing soldiers.

The training site is less than 6 miles from Belarus, a Russian ally since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.

Lithuania, a Catholic country, will organize a joint prayer on Sunday in its main church, the capital cathedral, and organize a mass for missing soldiers.

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The White House and Fort Stewart did not immediately respond to the request for Fox News Digital comments.

Stephen Soreace of Associated Press and Fox News Digital contributed to this report.